Grade 7, Yeoville Community
My name is Thandeka Ndlovu, I am 14 year’ old and I am working because my mom is disabled and my granny is spending her last days with us. So as a South African, I also get the SASSA grant.
One day, while I was walking home from school, I heard everyone talking about the President who was going to make a speech. I wondered what he was going to say therefore I decided to watch the news. The President then announced the lockdown and I got stressed.
I was not happy because our basic needs at home are not being met because of me. Even though I was given the SASSA money, it was not enough to pay the bills, buy groceries and pay school fees. Sometimes we would go to bed without eating. My grandmother has HIV but I could no longer afford to buy her medication and the virus started to slowly eat her inside.
We could not afford to pay rent anymore so the landlord kicked us out. Life was tough, and my mother was struggling more than me. My grandmother was becoming worse as each day that passed. Everything we had was gone, like food, water and shelter. All was lost. What was worse is that the COVID-19 numbers were rising rapidly so for us staying outside stressed me even more.
One night my grandmother woke me up and said, ‘My grandchild, I know you have tried a lot to keep this family in one piece, but the situation did not allow you my dear. I only ask you one thing, and that is to take good care of your mother. After that she closed her eyes and passed away. I woke my mom but we couldn’t even bury her since we had no money for funeral costs so we just let her rot.
This pained by mother’s heart which made it hard for her to sleep and she even stopped eating. Schools introduced online studying, but I could not get quality education any more. I could not bear to see my mother suffer like that so I applied for many different jobs, but I was rejected in all of them. Even the grant money was cut, so living expenses increased a lot.
Then one day I woke up with a dry throat, but I did not mind it. The following day, I had a very painful flu. I then decided to go to the public clinic and I tested positive for COVID -19. I got a shock and fainted. When I woke up, I rubbed my eyes and then the nurses stopped me and said that I should not touch my eyes, nose and mouth. I was then quarantined for 14 whole days.
‘Oh no!’, I said. ‘What’s the matter?’, asked the nurse. I then told her my whole story, after which she offered to go and check up on my mom. She came back to and told me that my mom had died from stress. My life was more miserable. I recovered from COVID-19, also known as Corona Virus and I was discharged. I was then interviewed by a journalist named Xolani and told him what life was like in quarantine. I said it was a bit like life being lived in a small room where no one cares about you and you have no socio-economic rights or the right to hang out with other people.
One stormy night, while sitting outside hiding from the storm, a stranger approached me. she offered me a home to stay so I agreed since I was homeless. When we got to her place, she gave me over-sized clothes to wear, and a room to sleep in. She gave me food and while we were eating, I asked why she was helping me. She replied, ‘ I was once homeless, so seeing someone homeless, especially at your age, breaks my heart because I know the feeling.’ She then said that I must not worry because she will help me until I get back on my feet.
She then took care of me during the lockdown, and provided me with everything I needed like food, water and shelter. She also paid for my school fees. Life was good but I will never forget my background. I became successful and became a writer. My first book was RAGS-TO-RICHES, which became a best seller. It talked about my life and how it was miserable when I had COVID-19, and how my rights were violated at that time, and how my life became better.
STAY HOME
STAY SAFE
STAY HAPPY